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If you just dump the power in the bottom and then let the water run in
and turn it on, it may not be coating the bag completely.

A fair point - but the method I used to charge was by adding the powder to a
jug immersed in the tank (alternate method in the manual) and letting the
vortex suck in the mixture - so the coating should have been nice & even ??

"Daniel Morrow" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the notes - I also found them to be educational - it will be
interesting to see if the original poster does too. Good luck and later!

Well, I'm very glad to report that the OP has indeed finally had some
success.... :-D

My water is clear as a bell now - Thanx to a 3rd charge of DE powder...

only took about 2 - 3 hours to get it sparkling with the 3rd charge....

I'm still at a loss to explain why the 1st & 2nd charges (both filtering for
1 week each) didnt *fully* clear the water or clog the outlet flow to a
trickle... but all is well that ends well...

I think what hapens when it doesn't clea the water quickly - like
under an hour and no matter what you do it won't go clear - and yes
I've left it for 24 hours and it gets no clearer - I think what happens
in this case is there is dissolved gas in the (usually new tapwater?)
that you charge the diatom with. What you add diatom powder and let it run
some of the gas comes out of solution in the filter pleats. Diatom powder
can't cover tha hole and eventually the bubble dissolves back into
solution leaving a hole in the powder coating.

I stumbled by accident on truning the filter off, letting all the
powder start to settle then turning it back on. This seems to dislodge
all the bubbles. What works too is to use aquarium, not fresh tap water
when charging the filter. it contains less dissolved gasas.

So, this does seem to help avoid the "cloudies" when no matter what you
do you seem to have a file layer of diatom powder in your tank. Keep in
mind though you should NEVER turn the filter off and on or try to charge
it in the tank itself. use a 2 gal tank or a large one gallon jar. Or
a bucket.

Getting the recharge valves helps too, but you can get by with just a
bucket. Recharging it is everything.

Once the powder it set up right it should make any tank clean in about
an hour. Leave it on for 24 hours and it's photographic quality clear.
For about half an hour... For tanks bigger than 30 gals you probbaly need
an XL. The D1 just takes too long above that size. It'll work to be sure
but how much time (or how many tanks) ya got?

The carbon these guys sell is awsome. Once the water is clear take the filter
out recharge it, then add 4 T carbon powder. Give it an hour and it will
make the water absolutely colorless taking out any yellow or green tinge.

You have to use finely powdered carbon here, not granulater carbon, but
it's easy to make. Just take any high quality (ie, coconut) carbon and
put it in a coffee grinder. Grind until it's a fine powder. Use 4T
per D1 after charging with datom powder. Now grind a couple of loeads
of beans to flush the carbon out of the grinder. The carbon actually cleans
it - that's your story and you're sticking to it. Keep excess powder in
a small tightly sealed jar.

If you just dump the power in the bottom and then let the water run in
and turn it on, it may not be coating the bag completely.

A fair point - but the method I used to charge was by adding the powder to
a jug immersed in the tank (alternate method in the manual) and letting
the vortex suck in the mixture - so the coating should have been nice &
even ??

"Richard Sexton" wrote in message
...
I think what happens
in this case is there is dissolved gas in the (usually new tapwater?)
that you charge the diatom with. What you add diatom powder and let it run
some of the gas comes out of solution in the filter pleats. Diatom powder
can't cover tha hole and eventually the bubble dissolves back into
solution leaving a hole in the powder coating.

a very possible and likely explanation - I'm happy to bust the x-file with
that !!! :-)
I stumbled by accident on truning the filter off, letting all the
powder start to settle then turning it back on. This seems to dislodge
all the bubbles. What works too is to use aquarium, not fresh tap water
when charging the filter. it contains less dissolved gasas.

yep - i have only ever charged with aquarium water - but my co2 injection
prolly causes enough gas to be dissolved into solution to give the above
effect - and now that I think of it - I just might have had my gas off for
at least a few days prior to my 3rd charge - (was getting desperate - I
thought no fertilizer & no co2 might help algae to die off) - no co2
dissolved in solution = uniform coating of DE powder on bag - your theory is
seeming more & more probable by the minute !! ;-D

So, this does seem to help avoid the "cloudies" when no matter what you
do you seem to have a file layer of diatom powder in your tank. Keep in
mind though you should NEVER turn the filter off and on or try to charge
it in the tank itself. use a one gallon jar.

???
Never turn the filter off ??
you've lost me... u said u turn it off momentarily to cure ur bubble on bag
problem - and now ur saying to never turn it off ?
huh ?
For tanks bigger than 30 gals you probbaly need
an XL. The D1 just takes too long above that size. It'll work to be sure
but how much time (or how many tanks) ya got?

"Steve Michie" wrote in message
...
For tanks bigger than 30 gals you probbaly need
an XL. The D1 just takes too long above that size. It'll work to be sure
but how much time (or how many tanks) ya got?

I've just got a single 55 gal tank.
Cheers.
========================
My D1 handles my two 55g tanks without a problem, and I have goldfish in
these tanks. It clears then in under 2 hours with no more than 1/2 to 3/4s
cup of DE from Lowe's (made for pool filters).
--

Mid posted.
Steve Michie wrote:
"Richard Sexton" wrote in message
...
I think what happens
in this case is there is dissolved gas in the (usually new tapwater?)
that you charge the diatom with. What you add diatom powder and let
it run some of the gas comes out of solution in the filter pleats.
Diatom powder can't cover tha hole and eventually the bubble
dissolves back into solution leaving a hole in the powder coating.

a very possible and likely explanation - I'm happy to bust the x-file
with that !!! :-)
I stumbled by accident on truning the filter off, letting all the
powder start to settle then turning it back on. This seems to
dislodge all the bubbles. What works too is to use aquarium, not
fresh tap water when charging the filter. it contains less dissolved
gasas.

yep - i have only ever charged with aquarium water - but my co2
injection prolly causes enough gas to be dissolved into solution to
give the above effect - and now that I think of it - I just might
have had my gas off for at least a few days prior to my 3rd charge -
(was getting desperate - I thought no fertilizer & no co2 might help
algae to die off) - no co2 dissolved in solution = uniform coating of
DE powder on bag - your theory is seeming more & more probable by the
minute !! ;-D

So, this does seem to help avoid the "cloudies" when no matter what
you do you seem to have a file layer of diatom powder in your tank.
Keep in mind though you should NEVER turn the filter off and on or
try to charge it in the tank itself. use a one gallon jar.

???
Never turn the filter off ??
you've lost me... u said u turn it off momentarily to cure ur bubble
on bag problem - and now ur saying to never turn it off ?
huh ?

He probably means that while the tubing is submerged or that only turn it
off while using the container (one gallon jar) as diatomaceous earth might e
scape into the tank causing a slight cloudiness of it's own which settles
soon in most setups. Good luck and later!

For tanks bigger than 30 gals you probbaly need
an XL. The D1 just takes too long above that size. It'll work to be
sure but how much time (or how many tanks) ya got?

Folks, sorry I have not yet figured out how to start a topic but here goes...

I have 2 Vortex DE filters and the D1 is pretty old so I am replacing worn parts. I have discovered in this process that I must have lost the felt washer and have been unsuccessful in finding a replacement. I was wondering if anyone happens to have a D1 appart and can tell me the dimensions of that darn washer so I can get a suitable replacement?